Little ways to improve life thread

[CherryChoc]

I was thinking the other day how little things that you do/see every day can really make a difference to your whole mood etc. And I realised that recently I've made a few very small changes that have made me less stressed and happier, just silly things like I was getting really fed up with our tiny airer which barely held half a load of washing. With the nice weather, and buying a new airer, I no longer get frustrated with the washing because I can do as many loads as I can fit into one day and not have them drying all around the house for (what seemed like) weeks.

The second thing I did was buy DS some nice, brightly coloured vests so that even though getting him dressed is still stressful (he hates it) I at least get cheered up by looking at the nice yellow vest with a fish on it rather than a plain white one.

Realising this made me suddenly understand what the "Hanging a lovely washing" thread was about - the little ways that everyday activities can brighten up your day or irritate you, depending on how you approach them.

So - the point of this thread is that you can post about little silly insignificant things which are irritating/stressing/boring/depressing you and get suggestions on how to make them less annoying.

Paperwork

Our filing "system" atm is as follows: every so often I can't hack the teetering piles any more, and put it all in a plastic bag and stick it in the bottom of the wardrobe

I am good at finding things though - I know the tesco bag is recent stuff and the sainsbo's bag is older than 6 months

I am now determined to deal with the post properly every day and only have to clear the backlog - sooner or later it will all be irrelevant and I can just burn it, hurrah

I want to do that too PrincessToadstool - start with one room and make sure everything has its proper place. For some reason the top of the microwave is terrible in our kitchen - I feel much better if I keep that clear.

The trug is not just any old bucket!

The thing is that it is flexible so yuo can grab the handles together and carry.

I have the mother and father of all piles of crap in my lounge. Some is Ebay stuff that didn't sell and is going to be stored for the next NCT sale and some is for the charity shop.

Tomorrow, my friend is coming over and we are going to stick the babies in the back of the car and take it to her shed and the charity shop. We WILL do it. I WILL reclaim my lounge.

I wonder how many lumps of banana we'll find in the pile though. DS's high chair is by the pile and he's a pretty good shot...

Always hang the car keys on the hook. I have spent so much time looking for them I may have wasted years already.
Would love to know how to keep work surfaces and top of the microwave clear.
Also I would love to have a tidy and serene bedroom. It is a general junk store with a bed at one end right now. . .

Doggiesaywoof - quite agree about the highchair thing.

I bought a file from WHSmith which has a-z labels on each section, now any paperwork goes in there and it means I can find things more easily. I also wrote an "Unknown" label on one of the further back ones so anything I don't have time to sort goes in that pocket. Then at least it isn't hanging around in piles - though it does still need sorting.

I often relate on MN how i spend an entire day about every 6 weeks cleaning from top to bottom and clearing any accumulating crap.
It works.

I'd lvoe to tell my sister that buying a proper kitchen bin instead of relying on carrier bags looped over the radiator would add an extra dimension to her life.

WEell,I have actually but she doesn't agree and carries on fighting with thier contents spilling over everything.

I'm getting lots of joy from my new cake tin. It's silver with a see-through lid. Much better than the old tupperware tubs that my cakes used to live in. It makes me smile when I look at it.

That sounds great.

My hand held blender improved my life no end.
Before the thoguht of dragging out mixer with a million attachments, made my heart sink.

One of those hand held soup blender thingumys would make me very happy right now. I hate having to drag the blender out of the cupboard and whizz the soup in batches. Grrrr.
Must get one soon.

Also now need a magic bucket or two and a cake tin with a see-through lid.

Dentist appointments were always a nightmare for me. Trying to find an appointment that fitted in with all the after school activities and getting three children to the other side of town at school run rushtime.

Until a friend said 'Why not just book them at half term?'.

I really don't know why I didn't think of that myself.

Oh yes, the stick blender is brill, I used it to whizz a big batch of soup that would have needed about three shifts in the food processor.
An electric hand whisk is essential too, always in use for pancakes and yorkhisre puddings here.

Where is see through-lidded cake tin of envy from Trillian?

John Lewis here

That's even nicer than I was imagining.

at us all sighing over a cake tin

What are these magical cupboard step things? Please tell me.

Those buckey things are really useful I agree.

I bought another two today in Tesco because they were reduced to 75p, they're fairly big ones too.

bucket not buckey.

Cupboard step (from Lakeland, predictably )